Seasons in the Park is known as one of the top restaurants with a view in Vancouver. Located within Queen Elizabeth park, the restaurant sits on the highest peak in Vancouver which is at 168 metres above sea level. The sweeping views of Vancouver and the mountains from the restaurant are undoubtedly magnificent and breathtaking. Seasons’ romantic setting has most certainly made it a popular location for wedding receptions. It had been several years since I last visited Seasons in the Park. Since then they have transitioned from being a fine dining, special occasions restaurant to having a menu that includes more casual, reasonably-priced items. Recently, I decided to revisit them for a relaxing lunch with my husband.

Elegant & Rustic

The interior of Seasons in the Park is elegant and inviting. With floor-to-ceiling windows, the inside dining room is fitting for a romantic dinner and for celebrations. It’s also unique because of their dining room isn’t quite “flat.” In fact, there are a few elevated areas which I think makes it very nice for group dining.

The exterior is rustic-inspired with lounge seating, fireplaces and beautiful overhanging chandeliers. We sat at a two-person table right along the edge of the patio with an obstructed view of the city.

What We Tried

From their Pacific Northwest-inspired menu, we went with the miso sablefish ($36), seafood linguine carbonara ($26), and a coffee ($3.25). To start, we were presented with some complimentary bread that was warm.

The coffee we ordered came soon after but our mains took about 15-20 minutes to arrive.

As a sablefish lover, I was impressed with how Season’s in the Park prepared it. Moist, buttery, flaky, lightly marinated in miso, and just overall melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The soy vinaigrette helped cut the fattiness of the sablefish.

The vegetable sides were average but I thought the rice was a bit dry. Perhaps some quinoa could have made this dish more “classy” instead of just rice.

The seafood linguine carbonara had a flavourful and creamy sauce. The sauce nicely coated all the noodles. I thought there was a good proportion of seafood to noodles. There was one large prawn on top, small scallops, bacon bits and pieces of snapper.

A tasty, dish that I would love to order again.

Parking

Paid parking in the park is $2.50 an hour and we needed two hours for our meal.

Overall Impression of Seasons in the Park

Season’s in the Park offers a unique, dining setting with gorgeous, sweeping views of the city. The dishes we tried were overall delicious and I would love to revisit them again. Rating: 4.5/5

Disclaimer: All food in this review were complimentary. Opinions are my own.

It is well-known that the Shaughnessy Restaurant is one of the more unique places for a dining experience in Vancouver. Located in the 55-acre Vandusen Botanical Garden, the Shaughnessy Restaurant offers an intimate and soothing environment for an elegant meal with stunning views of the garden. I recently joined BiteBC as a blogger contributor and attended a menu tasting at the Shaughnessy as they are a BiteBC participating restaurant.

West Coast Dining

The Shaughnessy offers Pacific Northwest cuisine with a focus on fresh and seasonal ingredients. An average dinner for two would be arounnd $80. However, with the Bite BC app subscription, you can receive a deal on your meal at the Shaughnessy. The current BiteBC deal is a free entree when you order two entrees and two appetizers.

To start, we had the smoked Mediterranean olives withspiced artichoke dip and herbed crisps. The bread was nice and crispy while the dip was tasty and mildly spicy.

The salt and pepper squidhad a nice, light batter and was chewy but still tender. The chili-lime aioli was a tasty dip and went well with the squid.

The mussels were in a coconut curry sauce which gave it a slightly sweet taste. I was impressed with the plumpness of the mussels.

Moving on to entrees, we had the maple and bourbon glazed steelhead with caramelized cauliflower and crushed olive oil potatoes. I loved the crispy skin of the fish while the meat while still moist and tender. The dish was overall rather a sweeter and comforting dish.

Next was the cioppino with fish, scallops, prawns, mussels, clams, spiced tomato and fennel broth. This was a lovely ensemble of seafood items with bread to soak up the delicious broth.

The duck confit had a sizable piece of duck leg. It came with a grilled orange salad, hazelnuts, citrus jus, and a parsnip puree worth dying for. The duck meat was tasty and tender, but I found the parsnip puree to be the star of the show with its melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

To finish off a lovely meal, we tried the lemon shortbread parfait with lemon curd, shortbread crumble, lemon ice cream, and torched meringue. I loved the play on textures with this dessert and the lemon flavour was strong and tasty.

The apple crumble had a nice citrus flavour. It was paired with French vanilla ice cream.

The flourless chocolate cake with pecan praline and vanilla ice cream was a definite favourite at our table. The cake was nicely dense and had a great chocolate flavour. It also had a great play on textures.

Overall Impression of Shaughnessy Restaurant

All in all, the dining experience at the Shaughnessy Restaurant was solid. My top picks of the meal were the salt and pepper squid, the duck confit and the flourless chocolate cake. The setting of the restaurant, of course, makes it a nice place for an intimate and romantic dinner.

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing you tons of delicious eats during the Year of the Sheep!

For some new year eats, we headed to Kirin Seafood Restaurant located on the second level of City Square mall on Cambie. I have been a regular customer of this Kirin location for many years and enjoy the quality and selection of Chinese food offered.

We arrived near the end of lunch service, so the restaurant was not as busy. I would recommend getting reservations if you decide to dine here as it gets busy particularly during weekends and holidays.

Kirin is a slightly more upscale Chinese restaurant, with dim sum costing about $5 each tray. They also have views of Downtown Vancouver which provide a lovely backdrop.

You get a complimentary chair cover when dining here as well.

A teapot of Pu’erh to start…

Warm hand towels were provided during our meal.

We had the barbeque pork pastry – one of our usual orders. It is served warm, tastes a bit sweet and sour and has a great flakiness texture.

We also had the deep fried chicken cartilage, which was crunchy but a bit too greasy.

We ordered the full Peking Duck which comes in two courses: the first course was the duck skin with crepe and the second course was minced duck with lettuce wrap.

The Chinese crepes came separately in their own tray…

Chinese crepe + Peking duck skin + sweet and sour sauce + onion = awesome! I could do without the onion, however. The chips and duck skin could have been crispier, but it was still good as is.

The minced duck in lettuce wrap is one of my favorite Chinese dishes.

The lettuce leaves were nicely washed and prepared.

Eh voilà, a delicious lettuce wrap!

When our bill came, there was an ad inside it for The Empire at QE development. The staff person explained to me that if we go downstairs to check out the presentation centre, we would receive a $20 gift card which can be used at any Kirin location. This offer is limited and ends on February 22, 2015. It seemed easy to get the gift card so we went to the presentation centre. The girl at the front told me to register my information on a form, handed me an information package, and asked me to have a look at the model units. She told me that I would receive the gift card at the end of the visit. After walking around the presentation centre for about 10 minutes, I went back to the girl and she provided me the gift card. It was a pretty trouble free experience.

We go to Kirin for the food, but the service is consistently so-so. We usually need to call someone to take our order and no one really checks on us during the meal. A lot of times, we do not want to wait so we pay at the front. The food is decent, however, if you understand that you will not be getting top-notch service. In all, the dining experience was good but the best part was getting the $20 gift card for visiting the presentation centre, even though I had to register.

The Fish House in Stanley Park is an iconic restaurant nestled in the luscious greenery of Stanley Park. This restaurant is 100% Ocean Wise, and they only serve organic meats and produce. My husband and I had never tried the Fish House before, so I was excited to see that they had a “12 Days of Christmas Lunch” on. This three-course lunch offering is priced at $29 per person (plus tax and gratuity).

I made a quick reservation with the OpenTable app as I collect dining points with them. There were no issues checking us in when we arrived. The restaurant can also check your coats in as well.

The server first brought us bread with a mix of olive and ciboulette lobster oil and balsamic oil, which was a nice combination. Based on the Fish House website, this lobster oil is is produced and bottled in Vancouver. It is also made with fresh Nova Scotia Lobster from the Atlantic coast of Canada, fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. It was my first time trying out this lobster oil and I found it really went with the bread.

I had the scallop and bacon terrine starter with poached Pacific scallop, Chinese bbq pork, roasted shiitake mushroom, daikon slaw, and taro root chip. The taro root chip was delightfully crispy and I loved the loud crunch when I bit into it!

The pork cheek tagliatelle entree consisted of braised pork cheeks, roasted tomatoes, spinach, confit garlic, basil, Grana Padano, and romescu sauce. The entree was beautiful just as it was tasty! I generally do not like pork cheek dishes as seen in Asian cuisine but this pasta and pork cheek combo was really wonderful.

As a seafood lover, I went for the pacific cod with seasonal vegetables, roasted potatoes, and beurre blanc. Another beautifully presented entree with sustainable fish and organic vegetables!

My dessert was the sticky toffee pudding with pumpkin spice gelato, poached sour apple, and créme anglaise. It was a heavenly and decadent dessert that I would gladly have again and again!

The Maple Chiffon Cake with bourbon peaches, vanilla bean gelato, and rosemary streusel was a definite winner with my husband.

We enjoyed our experience overall at the Fish House. The location of the restaurant allows patrons to have a serene dining experience away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The food was beautiful and tasty and the service was great. One remark is that you do need to pay for parking if you are parking at the restaurant during the daytime. The parking is free, however, after 6 pm. But let me tell you, the dining experience is worth it!